And
the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom
he had formed.

Why
this verse?

All of the
events in this chapter, and the next, center within the Garden of Eden. Eden
was a pristine home for man. It was here that Adam would be married to Eve
whom God formed from the rib of man.

III.Outline of Chapter 2

i.Rest (Gen. 2:1-3)

ii.Man (Gen. 2:4-7)

iii.Eden (Gen. 2:8-17)

iv.Marriage (Gen. 2:18-25)

NOTE:
This outline is extremely simply in form. One word summarizes each section.
An outline like this is very easy to remember. If called upon to teach, this
outline could easily be put into the margin of one’s Bible and used in a class
setting.

IV.Lessons from Chapter 2

A.Man
owes his life to God (Gen. 2:7)

And
the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

B.God provides for man’s need (Gen. 2:8-18)

1.Home (2:8)

2.Beauty (2:9)

3.Food (2:9)

4.Water (2:10-14)

5.Gold (2:12)

6.Purpose (2:15)

7.Boundaries (2:16-17)

8.Marriage/help meet (2:18-24)

C.God
has always intended for man to do some form of work (Gen. 2:15).

And
the Lord God took the man, and put him in the garden of Eden to dress it and to
keep it.

D.God
reveals to us how to set rules. They should come with both instructions and
with consequences (Gen. 2:16-17).

And
the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest
freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

1.Parents often give children the instructions, but they do not include
the consequences. When the consequences are meted out, the child will often
say: “These consequences are not fair.”

2.If the parent had included the consequence, then it would have been the
child who “chose” the consequence when he failed to comply with the directions.

E.God has defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman (Gen.
2:22-24).

And
the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought
her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore
shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife:
and they shall be one flesh.

____________________________

NOTE: If one is
teaching a class, a lesson should be developed for further discussion.

Example:

God has always intended
for man to do some form of work (Gen. 2:15)

-We now live in a society that refuses to work because one can receive
more assistance from the government than he would receive if he worked. This
runs contrary to the will of God both then and now (See II Thess. 3:10).

For
even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work,
neither should he eat.

-Work gives man purpose to his life. In his work, he can bring glory to
God by the type of employee he/she is.

-Wise parents will teach their children a diligent work ethic. This
should begin in the home with chores around the house. Children can also be
taught both the responsibility and reward of working by doing things such as
babysitting and lawn care at a young age.

_____________________________

F.Simple lessons:

1.Adam named the animals (Gen. 2:19)

2.Woman was formed from man’s side (Gen. 2:21). Woman was not taken from
man’s head to rule over him, nor was she taken from his feet to be trodden upon
by man. She was taken from his rib to walk beside him in love and mutual
respect.

3.In marriage, there is to be a “leaving” and “cleaving” (Gen. 2:24).

4.In marriage, a man and a woman become “one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).

5.Adam and Eve experienced a great innocence in the Garden at first (Gen.
2:25).

G.Lessons learned from deeper study:

1.The text of Genesis 2:3 states: And God blessed
the seventh day, and sanctified it… What does this mean?

2.What is the meaning of the words of Genesis 2:5b-6? …for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth,
and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the
earth, and watered the whole face of the earth.

3.In what way did man become “a living soul”? (Gen. 2:7)

4.Did all of the events of Genesis 2 happen on the sixth day? If not, how
do we harmonize them with Genesis 1:27?